Reply #44: Sometimes, when you are out for a longer time than expected,

[tblue37]

especially when it is nap time, kids get tired, and it is very, very hard to carry large tired kids, especially when there are two of them, and especially when you are carrying other things.

If the kids start whining because they are tired, nearby grinches will complain to the parent, but if the parent takes steps such as this, to put the kids in a stroller so that they can all get where they are going, without anyone being too tired, other grinches--or, more likely the same ones--will complain that the kids are too big to be in a stroller.

Anyone who has raised kids knows that sometimes a child of 3, 4, 5, or even 6 might get too darned tired to keep walking, and when that happens, a stroller is a lifesaver.

Also, some people must be with kids, not always their own, who can't be trusted not to take off.

When I had a home daycare, I often put the baby in a carry-all on my back and let SOME of the 3-4 year olds walk, but placed a certain 4-year-old in the stroller, because the second we got to the park, that 4-year-old would race ahead, climb the play-structure, and take a flying leap from the platform (as her parents had taught her to do) before I was there to catch her! I really hurt myself once racing with the baby on my back to catch the flying 4-year-old, and was forced to leave the other preschooelrs some distance out of my control while trying to save that little girl from breaking her neck.

After the first time, I explained to her that she couldn't jump from the platform before I was there to catch her, but the next time she was so excited that she raced ahead anyway and tried the same thing. After that, I put her in the stroller, because that way she was controlled until we were all near the play structure. (Oh, btw, I didn't have a car at the time--we had to walk the 4 blocks to that park.)

Parents, too, might not want to have their kids running loose in public places when they know they will be busy or distracted, because it takes just a nanosecond for a child to slip away because something has attracted them, or for a stranger to deliberately lure a child away.

A kid in a stroller is not going anywhere without the parent's knowledge.

Short version: There is nothing wrong with using a stroller for older kids sometimes. Sure, you wouldn't want to spoil them and make them lazy, but sometimes the stroller really is the wisest way to handle them.